Today, Tomorrow, and the Next Day
...
Disclaimer: I have not and will not watch I Saw the TV Glow until after our credits roll. I saw a clip on TikTok and have avoided it for fear of similarities to this script. The project was submitted to the Iowa Greenlight Grant three years ago but it needed a little more time as an ovum.
The Mountain Goats stuff is intentional đŻ John Darnielle, please sue me; I want our names on a piece of paper together.
Today, Tomorrow, and the Next Day
i. today
the first day.
Whoâs Afraid of the Dark
Written by A.B. Lamp & Cora Lynn Lassen
âPlaces, like people, sometimes go wrong. They turn off the path and head into the shadows, becoming something other than normal.â
-Dennis Detwiller
Directorâs Note: The project will be recorded using multiple cameras and formats. As a general rule, physical film represents subjectivity, digital embodies objectivity, while tape represents the remembered/reexamined.
PART ONE: TODAY
1 INT. OUT OF A PLANE WINDOW - DAY
The skyline of L.A. or NYC as a plane descends.
FATHER (V.O.)
It starts with a fight.
2 INT. FRATERNITY COMMONS - EVENING
COLOR FILM: Chaos, shoving, pushing, boys in period clothing excitedly shouting and gathering. Somebodyâs pouring drinks, which are spilling.
BOYS
Theyâre really gonna do it!
Heâs pissed off this time!
I think heâs just pissed.
Heâs gonna kill him.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
Whip âem Murphy!
etc.
A tight, jostling circle forms around two boys, young, 19 or 20.
An older, bigger lad holds them apart. They snarl like dogs at one another. Somebody pours booze down the chin of contestant #1, a young man with shaggy hair. Others are exaggeratedly holding SHAGGY back. Contestant #2, in contrast, is calm, smiling. Cooly appraising, amused even, he removes his watch and signature glasses. GLASSES then suddenly throws a punch.
It may break the other boyâs nose - draws blood. This is clearly a dirty move and ALL react accordingly. Some lay hands on the calm, smiling boy while others are shoved off of tending the bleeding boy, SHAGGY, who instead lunges angrily and is caught by the other boy in a sort of embrace that lasts just a moment before SHAGGY is shoved away. GLASSES, glasses-less, is squinting, takes a step back, then puts his hands behind his back, smiles differently.
SHAGGY, ever more enraged, hesitates a moment then slaps GLASSES across his face. This is met by surprise and laughter. Pushing, back and forth and another caught punch. Now theyâre dancing.
3 INT. OUTSIDE A CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
FATHER, frowning, from over the shoulder of another man in a black or navy business suit. FATHER in an ill-fitting oddly muted colored suit and a colorful loose tie. The muted sound ofâŚ
SUIT
Itâs just not what weâre looking for at this time. Some of the themes, theyâre not quite right for our brand identity, thatâs all. We feel youâll be better off somewhere else.
FATHER stares off down the hall, cross-dissolve toâŚ
4 INT. AIRPORT TERMINAL - DAY
FATHER catches himself staring off, looks around, finds a seat.
SFX: Text alert. Father looks down.
INSERT: He opens the app Blinks on his phone. There are several incoming texts from âHoney đŻâ. They read;
âHowâd the meeting go?â âYou okay?â âWe canât wait to see you!â w/ a picture attached of a woman, presumably honey, and a young BOY with a glazed look in his eye, looking up from a phone. A GIRL is seen in the background, leaving the room. She is reminiscent of a ghost caught on camera.
A song is playing in the airport bar. Letâs say free fallinâ. Father is somehow having an evident emotional reaction to the song, lets out an audible sigh as it ends (or at an appropriately sighable moment). His neighbor at the bar speaks up:
BARMATE
Great song, huh?
FATHER
Yeah. Pretty classic.
BARMATE
Man, he was one of the greats. Gone too soon, if you ask me.
FATHER
Yeah, you said it.
Genuine. Beat.
BARMATE
Rough day?
FATHER
I hate airports.
BARMATE
Tell me about it. Itâs like youâre in this huge rush, getting all your stuff together, running around, then you get where youâre going, and you justâŚwait. Drives me crazy.
FATHER
Yeah. Rushing to wait.
BARMATE
Yeah. (Beat) Hey man, you heard about the carnivore diet? You gotta balance your hormones, what with all the soy and 5G in the modern diet. Dudes are growing boobs.
FATHER
Sorry?
BARMATE
Iâm serious. More and more dudes getting boobs every day. Hormones all outta whack. But if you eat pure meat, you can fight back.
FATHER
You *only* eat meat?
BARMATE
Yeah, I know what youâre thinking. My shits must be crazy. And they are! See that bathroom? I just WRECKED it before I sat down. Was in there for like an hour. But thatâs the toxins leaving your body. Nasty on the way out. The *hormones* leaving your body, I mean. The girl hormones.
FATHER
Yeah, I donât know what youâre talking about. (Going to leave)
BARMATE
You should check out Mammoth Man on Blinks. He really opened my eyes. Weâre not meant to live like this. We gotta return to our ancestral roots.
FATHER
(Leaving) Pretty sure our ancestors ate vegetables.
FATHER rises and looks over at a couple of boys drinking at the airport bar, laughing. FATHER flips through the pages of his screenplay, dejectedly.
5 INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - GOLDEN HOUR
COLOR FILM: The boys who were fighting are bandaged now, the one more so than the other. They ache bad and touch one another where itâs tender. They grimace and playfully swat but the pain really is bad. GLASSES hops off the bed, pulls out a small wooden box with a lock on it from under the bed.
In the boy with glasses hand is a key. Key goes in lock and voilĂ open sesame the box is open. Inside, a needle and vial on a velvet cloth.
GLASSES
Ever tried it?
SHAGGY
(Shaking his head no)
Have you?
GLASSES
(Smirking)
Oh yeah, loads of times.
Once, before. When I broke my arm. And that hurt way the hell less than right now- So I canât imagine the agony you must be in.
SHAGGY
Shut up-
SHAGGY pulls a punch on GLASSESâ shoulder and the strain hurts him more than the punch did for sure.
Iâll go first.
GLASSES
Oh, there was no question. Otherwise who would put me
under.
SHAGGY
I could do it. Whatâs so hard about poking a vein.
GLASSES
(Prepping the needle, taking up a precise amount of dark brown liquid. And squirting a tiny bubble out)
Okay, sport.
SHAGGY
What? Iâm serious.
GLASSES
Youâre disrespecting my profession./ Now, roll up your
sleeve.
SHAGGY
/Youâre a student!
GLASSES
And that means I know a hell of a lot more than you do,
idiot actor boy. Now, roll up your sleeve.
SHAGGY takes off his shirt, sweat-drenched.
or do that.
GLASSES leans in close, brings the needle to SHAGGYâs arm.
Ready?
SHAGGY
Hit me.
GLASSES
Donât tempt me.
SHAGGY smiles, GLASSES injects the heroine. SHAGGY slips backwards in bliss and GLASSES catches him with his other arm, though SHAGGY can hold himself. With one hand, GLASSES goes through the same process again, brings the needle to his arm- in control of himself again, SHAGGY sits up, somewhat unsteadily, head swimming.
SHAGGY
Iâll do it.
GLASSES
(Laughing)
Not a chance.
SHAGGY reaches for the needle, GLASSES lets him take his hand and together they press into GLASSESâ arm, inject - they both swim over, blissfully floating in each otherâs arms.
SHAGGY
That light... It's so beautiful. Iâd ever seen it before.
SHAGGY pulls GLASSES in, and kisses him deeply.
GATE AGENT (V.O.)
Flight 1471 to Des Moines, now boarding.
4 CON. INT. AIRPORT TERMINAL - DAY
FATHER looks over, out of his daze.
GATE AGENT (V.O.)
All groups now boarding Flight 1471 to-
GATE AGENT (V.O.)
Now inviting all guests with disabilities and Active Duty
military personnel to board flight 616 to Phoenix
FATHERâs phone buzzes - a facetime from âHoney đŻâ. He considers ignoring it, thinking of his boyâs face and the disappointment heâs encountered but, hastily, answers.
4.5 INT. AIRPORT TERMINAL/LIVING ROOM - DAY
A split-screen of two facetime calls simultaneously. The woman from the pictures sent earlier appears. Thin voices are echoed by the distortion and slight delay in the call.
MOTHER
FATHER
Hi
Hi honey, I-
How are you doing?
Fine.
Howâd the meeting go?
They passed. I didnât get it.
Oh, well-
Itâs fine.
Iâm sorry, sweetheart. Thatâs disappointing.
You can always try another-
Whatâs the point?
It was a longshot anyways, right?
Oh, great./ I mean, Yeah, right.
What?
No, yeah, I guess. Nothing?
Alright. Weâre very proud of you.
Why?
Beca- Youâre trying for your dreams. Youâre really going for it.
Itâs a nightmare. I wouldnât greenlight it. Look, I-
Donât say that. Look whoâs here!
Look, I have to board the plane.
Daddyâs coming home!
I gotta- I gotta go.
Can you say hi?
Sweetie? Itâs daddyâŚ/
Hey champ!
Sweetie?
I guess heâs distracted right now.
Well, can he-
Yeah, no time for his old man.
Oh, honey, no. He-
Itâs okay, donât bother the kid. Iâll see you later.
FATHER hangs up the call.
5 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
MOTHER is in the living room with her son, both isolated, him slightly in the dark, illuminated by the glow of a phone. She stares at him across from her. Blue light flashes across his face.
Cutaway to the images which flicker across the screen. Each lasts a few seconds at most before moving onto the next. The BOYâs feed is innocent enough, mostly animal videos, but interspersed with the occasional creepy urban exploration videoâ always the feeling that something is lurking just off-screen.
Thenâ a strange pattern appears, the same length as the other clips but entirely different. Shapes and codes, dots flashing at specific points on the screen.
In his left eye a tear begins to run down his face.
A moment later itâs gone, as if it had never been there.
MOTHER
Sweetie? Look at me?
He does so. A tight on his eye. Match-cut to:
(NOTE: instead of a match-cut, may need a series of shots of the empty house to establish their relative positions in the house.)
6 INT. ATTIC ROOM - DAY
The Blinks logo on another cell phone screen, a stylized eye that resembles a âbâ turned on its side. The cascade of images begins to play. A GIRL, sitting on the bed, stares at her phone, same as her brother downstairs. The room is barren and empty.
INSERT: Her face on a screen from the perspective of her phoneâs front-facing camera in a dark office setting.
The girlâs face lacks almost all emotion except perhaps resignation and exhaustion.
Returning to her feed, which includes âmust-haveâ beauty products, people mad at celebrity Luke DiLucas for his apparent grooming, people doing rapid-speed unboxings, people facing imminent eviction asking for money, Tarot card pulls, etc. she swipes away text notifications; âwyd?â while a conversation carries on faintly downstairs.
MOTHER
Letâs be done with the phone today, okay?
BOY
Why?
MOTHER
Well, I think youâve had enough?
BOY
Nuh-huh.
In a wide shot, the GIRL appears isolated and totally alone. Even more so when we match-cut ahead to the late EVENING. Long shadows creeping in from the corners of the room.
The same pattern as appeared for the BOY now manifests for the GIRL. Again, a tear develops in her left eye, accompanied by a wave of nausea. She wipes away at it and, looking green, continues staring into her phone, itâs then that the phone freezes and powers off, having drained the battery. At last she drops the phone, basically right on her face, and takes a breath. She looks around the darkening room.
Her eyes stop on an Instax photo of what appears to be her and GLASSES.
A closet opens, backlighting the GIRL. Before her is a bottle of bleach occupying the center-frame. She stares at it, too long, sighs, closes the closet door.
5 CON. INT. LIVING ROOM - EVENING
MOTHER has resorted to wrestling the phone from her sonâs hands. She smiles once she has it.
MOTHER
There, isnât that better?
BOY
Can I watch TV?
MOTHER
I⌠sure. Why not.
GIRL, like a ghost, creeps around the corner, silently trying to slip out the door.
7 EXT. HEDGES - EVENING
Long shadows grab at the heels of the GIRL as she hurries away from the house. At the same time, a car pulls up to the corner.
Out steps FATHER. He shuts the door, stares up at the house before him ala The Exorcist. He scowls, but the house is his own and as of yet there is no monster dwelling within. On the top floor a light shines through the window. FATHER looks up at it.
8 INT. ATTIC ROOM - MORNING
The open box which contained the needle from the previous scene with SHAGGY and GLASSES. Its contents strewn across the floor. SHAGGY coming up the stairs, the camera pulling back to reveal a body, SHAGGY falling to his knees.
7 CON. EXT. HEDGES - EVENING
FATHER grips his briefcase tighter, grits his teeth, pushes on.
9 INT. FRONT HALL - EVENING
The front door swings open and FATHER stands at the threshold, haggard with suitcase in hand.
In the TV room, lit by the glow of a larger screen, BOY jumps at the sound while MOTHER jumps up to greet her husband.
A quick peck on the lips.
MOTHER
Welcome home, darling.
Youâll get them next time.
Weâre watching Spectacular Relay! Wanna join?
FATHER
Eh, I donât know. Iâm pretty beat. I think Iâll just hit the hay, if thatâs alright.
MOTHER
Whatever you want. Say hi to your son on the way up.
FATHER
Of course. Hey champ! Big day?
SON
Uh-huh.
MOTHER
If you consider 8 hours of screen-time a big dayâŚ
FATHER
Who the hell let him have 8 hours of screen-time?
MOTHER
Darling, itâs what he wanted. Let him have his summer vacation.
FATHER
Some vacation. I think we could all stand to cut back.
MOTHER
What is he supposed to do while Iâm working? Or running errands, or making dinner?
FATHER
I dunno, play? I mean, donât kids play anymore?
MOTHER
Play with WHO? Are they finally gonna let you work remote? You gonna drive home on your lunch break, squeeze in a little catch?
FATHER
Toys. He has plenty of real life toys, that we paid for with real life money.
MOTHER
I â I donât know if he KNOWS how to play â not like that.
FATHER
Everybody knows how to play.
MOTHER
Sure. The two of us, for example. We play all the time.
FATHER
Every KID knows how to play.
MOTHER
Well, he doesnât. All he wants is the phone.
FATHER
Hey, how about some catch tomorrow?
No response.
Great.
FATHER begins to climb the stairs.
MOTHER
I think that sounds great. Donât forget about the potluck.
FATHER
Oh God, thatâs right, the whole neighborhoodâs descending.
MOTHER
Itâll be fun.
FATHER
Sure it will.
MOTHER
Just make the effort.
FATHER
I will. I do.
MOTHER
Just donât be a mope.
FATHER
Iâll do my best.
With him rounding the corner, MOTHER is left behind.
10 EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
GIRL, in a daze, wandering through a graveyard.
11 INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
FATHER, removing his tie, his shoes, taking off his jacket, opening his case, rummaging around, finds a pill bottle, shakes a few into his hand, swallows them down dry.
MOTHER at the door.
MOTHER
Iâm putting him down for the night. Want to say goodnight?
FATHER
Eh, I just took some sleeping pills.
MOTHER
Oh, did you, need to?
FATHER
The time difference. I should lay down. Iâll see him in the morning. Oh, howâs the degenerate?
10 CON. EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
GIRL finds a grave, kneels beside it.
GIRL
Itâs not fair. They donât get me like you did. They think Iâm a fuckup already.
11 CON. INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
MOTHER
Who knows, up in her room, all day like every day. Maybe you could check on her?
FATHER
The pills, honey. Iâm not long for the waking world. Besides, itâs creepy up there.
MOTHER
Your script isnât real life.
FATHER
It bears a resemblance.
MOTHER
Right.
Darling, weâre happy, arenât we? We have everything we could ever ask for.
FATHER
Do we? I didnât realize.
He begins reclining in bed. The sleep aids affecting him already.
MOTHER
Look around us. Weâre healthy, weâre wealthy, what more could we want.
FATHER
I donât want this conversation right now. Iâm, Iâm too tired for this. I never asked for anything. Is it too much to want this one thing?
MOTHER
I donât know, maybe.
FATHER
Itâs bullshit.
10 CON. EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
GIRL gets up unsteadily.
GIRL
G-goodbye. Maybe, maybe Iâll see you soon.
11 CON. INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
MOTHER
Alright, well, Iâm putting our son to bed.
FATHER
Knock yourself outâŚ
Heâs nearly unconscious.
FATHER
I have never seen that light fixture before.
MOTHER
That one?
FATHER
Yeah. That new, huh?
MOTHER
No. Itâs been hanging above our bed ever since we moved in.
FATHER
Never seen it. In my life.
BEAT.
MOTHER
Heâs been having bad dreams. He doesnât sleep.
FATHER
Too much, what, Blinks? I wouldnât sleep either with the whole fucking world flashing an inch from my face.
MOTHER
He doesnât, we have a rule, you know this. No screens an hour before bed.
FATHER
Right, great. Howâs that working out?
MOTHER
Okay, well, youâre being a jackass so, goodnight.
FATHER
Yeah, me too.
She sighs exasperatedly and starts to shut the bedroom door.
You canât protect him from everything. Not from the bogeyman. Every house is haunted.
MOTHER
Not ours.
FATHER
Especially oursâŚ
Incoherent, he may be asleep. She pauses, finishes closing the door. On the other side she closes her eyes a moment before composing herself, easing into a smile.
10 CON. EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT
The grave alone. The GIRL far away, the sound of a train whistle.
12 INT. BOYâS BEDROOM - NIGHT
BOY in bed. A light goes out.
MOM (V.O.)
Goodnight sweetheart, love you. Sweet dreams.
SFX: A door closing.
Near total darkness. Very dim shapes. Heavy breathing, fearful and fretful then dreadfully controlled.
Mom outside the door, also in the dark but silhouetted perhaps by a large window, it may be a full moon - she doesnât know.
She has quick eyes and an air of dignity but her mind is scattered by worry.
Meanwhile, in the bed chamber, things begin to take shape, like a photograph developing.
There is something in the dark - something huge. It is holding its breath. It steps slowly inside. It is heavy and somehow blacker and darker than any of the other dim dark shapes in the room.
The BOY in the bed is shutting his eyes fiercely., forcing his fluttery breath to stay consistent, to ignore that there is something else in there.
What is in the room is impossible. It appears to be, as one stares closely at a screen in a darkened room to be a horse? With an enormous black rider on top of it. An eye waters in an insert shot then Blinkss. It is. The snout of a great black horse close to the boyâs face. Outside, a train roars through the night.
13 EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT
Still night but almost dazzling with distant street lights compared to the total darkness of the BOYâs bedroom. The train din is overwhelming. The street is empty, the freight train rolling noisily along alone. There are no souls around except one.
She is far away at first standing stockstill off the sidewalk. She isnât going to cry about this. Still, she is crying silently, not even the coal cars will hear her sob. So she takes a big shaky breath and a step forward.
12 CON. INT. BOYâS BEDROOM - NIGHT
In the pitch-black room the faroff roar of the heavy cars. Any extra shake from slicing a body would sound like the same noise. So, death stirs� IN the grainy lowlight this looming shape moves its huge head. The boy is relaxed by will, against his every instinct. He must appear to be asleep, must convince the figure in the room it is a dream against the evidence of his senses.
13 CON. EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT
She snaps her head away from the whipping train, suddenly much closer than when we left her. She comes to her senses as the train nears its end. A metal sign is pointing out the side of the caboose. She screams, lurches.
12 CON. INT. BOYâS BEDROOM - NIGHT
The boy screams out. The figure snaps its head towards the sound.
14 INT. LANDING - DAY
Blinding daylight, a large boy looms in a hallway, takes two steps, pushes the POV camera over onto its back, staring up at the ceiling.
13 CON. EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - NIGHT
The girl snaps her head back, lurching away from the train - the menacing sign slices past, she falls through the air.
12 CON. INT. BOYâS BEDROOM - NIGHT
MOM outside the door looks up in terror, she shoves the door open, flips a switch. The light comes on but the bulb blows. The BOYâs eye contracts then the veins expand and the eyeball bulges, oozes, eyelids pulled back by an unheard wind, skull peeking through gore, then bony white dust and red mist.
MOTHER screams. A tear rolls down her cheek, then another, bloody.
15 EXT. GARDEN - NIGHT
A wide shot of the house from the backyard. A light flashes in a bedroom window accompanied by the faint static of electricity. Silence. A cool summer night, lit by the nearly full moon.
11 CON. INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
FATHER is sleeping soundly in his bed. Moonlight falls on the empty spot on the mattress beside him. Darkness swallows up the sleeping pills on his bedside table whole. A shot of a still from Gone with the Wind on the wall.